


waking sleeping beauty

by gingergenower



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, True Love's Kiss, canon set me up for this, oh yeah I'm going there, this is entirely the show's fault
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-10-31 05:49:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17843621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gingergenower/pseuds/gingergenower
Summary: In 2x03, Magnus tried true love’s kiss- and all the legends are true.





	waking sleeping beauty

**Author's Note:**

> HERE HAVE A FAIRYTALE TROPE WRAPPED IN MAGNUS HAVING NO MAGIC ANGST

It’s the third day when Magnus is left alone with him.

Sat on a chair drawn up to the bed, his fingers laced through Alec’s, Magnus says he’ll stay. Maryse shuts the door behind her, grabbing a shower and a nap in Magnus’ guest room. She’s officially positioned here to ‘supervise’ the warlocks’ care of the head of Institute, but she fought for it mostly because she can’t bear to leave him. Magnus watches the rise and fall of Alec’s chest.

His breathing is even, eyes closed; as though asleep.

They’ve already done this. Not too long ago, he sat at Alec’s side and hoped Jace would be able to save him. Alec’s mentioned that he remembers moments of it. He remembered the warmth of Izzy’s hands clutching his. He remembered the detachment, the feeling of being somewhere between. He remembered Magnus’ voice.

Bringing Alec’s hand to his lips, Magnus presses a gentle kiss to the back of it. He wants to give him that again at least, for the first time alone with Alec since he fell into this, but Magnus doesn’t know what to say even without Alec’s family or Caterina in the room.

‘I love you’, ‘I’m staying’; they’re not enough, and Alec knows them already.

Still holding Alec’s hand, Magnus hunches over and rests his forehead against the edge of the mattress. The exhaustion’s aching, a monster of his own making after three days without proper sleep, but there’s nothing in him that wants to leave. He slept in the chair if he was sure someone else was going to be in the room for an hour, ate when Maryse brought food, but there’s nothing in him that aspires to moving from his vigil.

The physical wounds are gone, superficial and corrected with a rune, but Caterina says the magic binding itself to his soul and holding him under is demonic.

If he still had his magic, Magnus would reach in and destroy it. He’d destroy himself to save Alec, but in the purest mundane monotony, there is no heroic sacrifice to make. He is capable of nothing to save Alec; in the face of this, he only serves as a spectator to his suffering.

Breathing out, Magnus squeezes his hand, raising his head to look up at Alec. He seems like a few kisses peppered across his cheeks would stir a smile out of him, a hand groping to find Magnus and pull him in properly, murmur a ‘good morning’.

His phone buzzes and it’s Caterina, coming off shift. She says she’s going home to get a shower then she’s coming back over.

Magnus nods to himself, bracing himself for Madzie’s excitable energy. She’s not stupid, aware Magnus is not quite his usual self, aware that Alec is ‘sick’, but ultimately she’s a child, and she needs attention and watching, and her brightness hurts but at least it gives him something to think about.

He doesn’t have long left.

Magnus isn’t sure when people will start to encourage him to move on. He knows after a week or so, he’ll have to start pretending to function. He knows after a month, Caterina will try to coax him into spending time with her and not feel guilty for it. He knows everyone will wonder after two if Alec is ever going to wake.

Arranging Alec’s hand back on his stomach, Magnus sits on the edge of the mattress and strokes a finger down Alec’s cheek. He hasn’t been this close to him the whole time, afraid to touch him, afraid to find his skin cold.

“I’ll be here,” he says, and no one will ever know precisely all the reasons Magnus would be willing to wait the rest of his mortal life to see Alec smile again. This, their relationship, it hasn’t been enough. He wants _everything_. “I’ll wait for you, Alexander.”

When he leans in to kiss him, he isn’t reminded of how he tried to wake Alec in a desperate last attempt that failed. He doesn’t think it will change anything, he doesn’t even think it will make him feel better. He just wants to kiss Alec.

Nothing more than a press of dry lips, Magnus kisses him. The contact tingles like the faint, familiar memory of magic, but holding his cheek delicately, thumb stroking his cheek, Magnus pulls back and follows all the soft, sure angles and lines of his face.

Alec’s eyelids flutter.

Magnus jerks back, staring.

Breathing shifting- sharp, cut off, Alec squints at the bright lights, frowning and disoriented, but his hazel eyes are open. “Magnus?”

“Alec.” Magnus doesn’t believe what he’s seeing, voice strangled with shock, and Alec tries to stretch his limbs out, uncomfortable in stillness.

Fumbling for his phone, Magnus calls Caterina, hands shaking as he rests one on Alec’s chest to keep him in place and holds the phone to his ear with the other. The call rings out to voicemail as Alec wakes, seeming more awake by the second, alert and coherent.

He blinks again, focus settling on Magnus as he takes in the hand on his chest. “What-?”

“Are you ok?” Magnus says, dropping the phone as Alec reaches up, sweeping hair off his forehead with his fingertips. “How are you feeling?”

“Um- tired?” Alec says, trying to sit up. “What happened?”

“You- you were in a fight, you were blasted with magic, you’ve been asleep for three days,” Magnus says, and he can’t _breathe_ , Alec’s eyes shifting to concerned as he takes in Magnus’ expression. “We thought- it’s old magic, _dark_ magic, I don’t understand how you’re awake-”

“Hey, shh, I’m ok,” Alec says, wide-eyed and honest, like Jace hasn’t been in agony with stabbing pains in his chest for three days. “I’m _fine_ , I feel fine-”

Magnus can’t look away, can’t pick one emotion to feel, it’s too much. Alec’s _beautiful_ , and awake, and this shouldn’t be possible but he doesn’t care because Alec smiles.

“I love you,” he says, calm and sweet.

He’s a jagged contrast to Magnus, who touches his forehead to Alec’s and tries to stop _shaking_. “You scared us.”

***

After Maryse cried, after Caterina ran every test and check she or Magnus could think of and some they researched in ancient tomes with theoretical magic, they concluded they would never know what saved Alec. They didn’t even truly understand the magic killing him, so it was entirely possible anything was true, and Magnus insisted on Maryse staying another night but he was so exhausted he went to bed with Alec at eight in the evening.

Curled up into Alec’s side, Alec’s arms around him and lips touching his forehead, Magnus can’t quite fall into sleep. He doesn’t need the answer as long as Alec remains healthy, but he feels as though he already knows it, but he can’t quite put his finger on it.

“Go to sleep, Magnus,” Alec says, and Magnus feels his smile. “I can hear you thinking.”

“I am asleep, my love,” Magnus says lightly, titling his head up to meet Alec’s lips- and it’s only as they kiss Magnus remembers that tingling, like magic, but there is none as Alec’s mouth slides against his, and Magnus- pauses, pulls back, touches a finger to Alec’s bottom lip.

_This isn’t waking Sleeping Beauty with a kiss._

His own words.

“You ok?”

Magnus swallows, eyes flicking to meet Alec’s. He does love him, truly and utterly, with everything he is, but it’s a constant surprise to have that returned. “I have you,” Magnus says simply, and Alec’s eyes glow with affection, kissing him again.

**Author's Note:**

> also I promise I won't post anything else until I get part 4 of my mafia au done TELL ME IF YOU LIKED IT PLEASE


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